Paul Metz (politician)

Paul Metz (born May 30, 1899 in Schwäbisch Gmünd ; † July 3, 1961 in Herbrechtingen ) was the school director, businessman and district administrator . From 1946 to 1948 Metz was Lord Mayor of Heilbronn .

Life

From 1921, Metz was a teacher in the Württemberg civil service. After he was dismissed for political reasons in 1933, he worked as a businessman until 1940. From 1945 he was provisional district administrator for the district of Göppingen and in 1946 was also a member of the provisional representative body for Württemberg-Baden . The Württemberg Interior Minister Fritz Ulrich won the SPD politician as a candidate for the Heilbronn SPD for the office of Lord Mayor of Heilbronn . On August 16, 1946, the Heilbronn municipal council elected Metz as mayor and successor to Emil Beutinger . Metz took office on October 4, 1946; Due to the lack of an intact representative building, his inauguration took place in the Knorr company canteen .

Metz announced a competition for the city, which was completely destroyed after the air raid on Heilbronn on December 4, 1944, in order to obtain alternative construction plans for the inner city of Heilbronn on the one hand and to win architects for the reconstruction of the city on the other. The construction plans ranged from the reconstruction of the half-timbered town and the faithful reconstruction of both the historic palaces and the Gothic, Baroque and historicizing churches (Fritz Ochs) to the car-friendly shopping town with parking lots and high-rise buildings (Helmut Weber). Metz was also the chairman of the jury, which took place on November 10 and 11, 1947 and assessed the reconstruction plans.

In the first regular mayoral election of Heilbronn after the Second World War on April 11, 1948, Metz ran and received 44.54% of the votes, only 25 votes more than the DVP candidate Paul Meyle (44.48%). Meyle won the runoff election on May 23, 1948 with 56.22% of the vote. Metz raised an objection to the runoff election and, after the objection was rejected by the Heilbronn local council, complained to the Württemberg-Baden Ministry of the Interior, which rejected his complaint. In addition, at the instigation of Metz, the trial chamber proceedings against Meyle were briefly resumed, but discontinued on August 12. Meyle's inauguration was delayed until September 7th. Metz remained in office until August 31, 1948. He then returned to school work and was the school principal in Heidenheim an der Brenz until his retirement in spring 1961 .

The newly built Paul Metz Bridge in Heilbronn was named after Paul Metz in 2004 .

literature

• Uwe Jacobi: Heilbronn - The most beautiful years? Post-war period in a German city . Heilbronner Voice, Heilbronn 1984, ISBN 3-921923-01-8 (series on Heilbronn, 9). Pp. 96-97
• Alexander Renz: Chronicle of the city of Heilbronn. Volume VI: 1945-1951 . Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 1995, ISBN 3-928990-55-1 (Publications of the Heilbronn City Archives, 34). Pp. 235-261

Web links

• Submission to the municipal council dated January 13, 2004 on the naming of the Paul-Metz-Brücke in Heilbronn (PDF, accessed on June 15, 2008; 9 kB)